Handle of golf clubs and the like



Q01. 30, 1934. c D, RQBERTSQN 1,979,174

HANDLE OF GOLF CLUBS 'AND THE LIKE Filed June 25, 1933 In vrzior Clarence Douglas fiaberlson/ By Mr Patented Oct. 30, 1934 PATENT OFFICE HANDLE OF GOLF CLUBS AND THE LIKE Clarence Douglas Robertson, Mornington, Victoria, Australia Application June 23, 1933, Serial No. 677,315 I In Australia May 13, 1933 2 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in the handles of golf clubs and other sporting implements which are gripped by both hands when striking at a ball and its object is to facilitate $51? the striking of the ball with a clean true stroke so that its line of flight is in the desired direction. While this invention may be applied to baseball clubs, hockey sticks, cricket bats and the like, it is especially applicable to golf-sticks and '101 will therefore be described hereinafter mainly in relation thereto.

I attain this object by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation (i. e. looking against the direction of intended flight of the ball) of a golf club for a right-handed player;

Figure 2 is an elevation looking outwardly from the position of the player;

Figures 3 and 4 are views corresponding to the 62 upper portion of Figure 2 but illustrating modifications, and

Figures 5 and 6 are plan views of a club, with its shaft in a vertical position, showing the upper hand grip oifset about one in four and one in six 2;: respectively.

The upper hand grip 1, which is about five inches in length, is forwardly inclined so that the top of the handle is offset about one inch from the shaft 3 of the handle. The amount 301 of offset would not be substantially greater than that shown in Figure 5 and seldom less than that shown in Figure 6.

In addition to inclining the upper hand grip forwardly, the lower hand grip 2 might be inclined forwardly as shown in Figure 3 or rearwardly as shown in Figure 4.

While this invention may be applied to baseball clubs, hockey sticks, cricket bats and the like, it is especially applicable to golf-sticks and Will therefore be described hereinafter mainly in relation thereto. The invention has been devised more particularly with the specific object of eliminating or substantially reducing the fault known as slicing in golf, which causes the path 5; of flight of the ball to curve outwardly away from the player instead of running directly forwardly in the desired direction. It is believed that slicing is caused largely by a hand and wrist action which swings the striking face of the club 501 inwardly from the intended line of flight of the ball or inwardly across that line. The term inwardly is used to mean towards the player's side of the intended line of flight. The premature crossing, or leaving, of the intended line of flight by the striking face of the club, in this manner imparts a spin to the ball which causes it to veer off outwardly from its intended line of flight. The term outwardly means in a direction across the intended line of flight of the ball and away from the player, and forwardly means in the direction of intended flight of the ball or, in other words in the direction of swing.

My invention is based on an appreciation of the fact that if the ball can be struck before the hands have swung across the body to the point where the hand and wrist action abovementioned become noticeable, the tendency to slice will be greatly minimized.

The essential feature of this invention is the forward off-setting of the upper hand-grip por- 7d tion of the handle directly in the line of intended flight of the ball. In the case of a baseball club, hockey stick or cricket bat, as the ball is normally in motion when struck, the line of motion of the striking point of the implement at the moment of impact would be equivalent to the intended line of flight of the ball in the case of a golf club. The direction of each such line may be referred to as the direction of swing.

The invention is hereinafter described in relation to a golf-club, as that is believed to be its most important aspect. Its application to the other purposes specified will, however, be quite obvious.

The off-setting of the upper hand grip is effected by inclining about five inches of the top of the handle directly forwardly at an angle to the remainder of the handle from about one in four to one in six, or slightly more or less as hereinafter explained.

When the upper hand and corresponding arms of the player are in any particular position during the latter portion of the stroke the striking face of the club will further forward than with a normal club owing to the inclination of the two parts of the handle away from one another. This may, perhaps, be better appreciated if instead of regarding the upper grip as inclined forwardly from the lower grip and shaft the shaft is regarded as inclined forwardly in relation to the upper grip when the club is in the striking position. Thus, when the striking face of the club is approaching the point of impact, the hands and arms of the player are not so far forward as normally and in addition the upper hand lies in a more comfortable and natural position. Consequently, the bad effect of any tendency of the upper hand to pull inwardly is minimized and the obtaining of a clean true stroke is facilitated.

The angle of inclination may be varied some- 110 What to suit different players and the extent of their tendency to slice; thus, with some players a very slight inclination-even less than one in when the striking face of the'club was approach-s ing the point of impact the hands andarms of the player would be as far forward as in the case of a normal club whereas according to thepresent invention they would at that moment be in a more rearward position than normally.

I claim:

1. In a golf club, a shaft having a rigid handle comprising an upper and a lower portion, the lower portion forming a continuation of the shaft, the upper portion having its longitudinal axis inclined forwardly with respect to the axis of the shaft and lying in a plane which is parallel to the correct plane, of swing.

2. In a golf club, a shaft having a rigid handle comprising an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion having its longitudinal axis inclined forwardly with respect to the shaft axis, the lower portion having its longitudinal axis inclined rearwardly with respect to the shaft axis 

